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Breakin' All the Rules (2004)

tomatometer

32

Average Rating: 4.8/10
Reviews Counted: 87
Fresh: 28 | Rotten: 59

This formulaic screwball comedy is weighed down by a contrived, overly complicated plot.

39

Average Rating: 5/10
Critic Reviews: 28
Fresh: 11 | Rotten: 17

This formulaic screwball comedy is weighed down by a contrived, overly complicated plot.

audience

63

liked it
Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 10,664

My Rating

Movie Info

A man who writes the book on ending a romance runs into rough sledding while starting a new one in this comedy. Quincy (Jamie Foxx) is a magazine editor whose life takes an unexpected turn for the worse when his fiancée, Helen (Bianca Lawson), decides to give him some interesting news at their engagement party -- she's breaking up with him. A few days later, Quincy's boss, Phillip (Peter MacNicol), gives him the task of cutting manpower in his department by 15 percent; too emotionally beaten to

PG-13, 1 hr. 25 min.

Comedy

Daniel Taplitz

Oct 12, 2004

$11.8M

Screen Gems

Cast

All Critics (94) | Top Critics (29) | Fresh (29) | Rotten (59) | DVD (15)

... this is basically just a sitcom.

May 17, 2004 Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | Comment
Ebert & Roeper
Top Critic IconTop Critic

No movie this stupid should need a plot synopsis this complicated.

May 14, 2004 Full Review Source: Washington Post | Comment
Washington Post
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A movie that sags and drags under the weight of poor pacing, execrable writing and largely unlikable characters, including a leading man viewers can never really warm up to.

May 14, 2004 Full Review Source: Washington Post | Comment
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A cleverly concocted hybrid of conventional romantic comedy and mistaken-identity farce.

May 14, 2004 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment
Variety
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If the movie were 10 minutes longer, the mix-ups might grind viewers down, but director Daniel Taplitz knows how to juggle the subplots he's given.

May 14, 2004 Full Review Source: USA Today | Comment
USA Today
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In many ways a throwback to the era of Doris Day and Jack Lemmon movies.

May 14, 2004 Full Review Source: Toronto Star | Comment
Toronto Star
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Not much worth seeing in this mess of a movie.

December 22, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment
Common Sense Media

...may be fluff, but it is patient, character-driven fluff.

July 25, 2005 Full Review Source: www.kcactive.com | Comment

,

January 1, 2005 Full Review Source: 3BlackChicks Review | Comment
3BlackChicks Review

Digresses into that hazy zone where we're not sure if we're watching overwrought drama or a joke that just isn't funny.

September 16, 2004 Comment
Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas)

it's all very silly and highly unbelievable, but the five main leads are all having a good time.

June 1, 2004 Full Review Source: Sean the Movie Guy | Comment

With a little more polish, Daniel Taplitz's quick-witted romantic comedy might have lived happily ever after.

May 27, 2004 Full Review Source: Boulder Weekly | Comment

A good cast tries to rescue a bad script.

May 25, 2004 Full Review Source: Entertainment Spectrum | Comment

Breakin' All the Rules doesn't break any rules at all. It's just a by-the-numbers romantic comedy.

May 22, 2004 Full Review Source: Internet Reviews | Comment
Internet Reviews

...the comedy never tried to stretch beyond being common.

May 20, 2004 Full Review | Comment
Talking Pictures (U.S.)

Everybody involved in Breakin' All the Rules -- especially the audience -- deserves something more than this tedious excuse for a movie.

May 19, 2004 Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) | Comment
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Breakin' All the Rules

The story is half decent, although I think a lot of these films, waste time on film which is just modelling shots. So they found it tough to fit the rest of the story in. But it works, no complaints. Funny !

January 26, 2008
rezpatriot

Super Reviewer

Jamie Foxx is hilarious.

February 2, 2007
allan913

Super Reviewer

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